"A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Harry's eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Harry saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field."

The stadium built for the 422nd World Cup took a Ministry of Magic task force a year to construct, and could hold one hundred thousand spectators.[3]

In the final game, Ireland, having defeated Peru in the semi-finals, played against Bulgaria. In the end, Bulgarian Seeker managed to catch the Snitch and salvage Bulgarian dignity, although Ireland won.

Contents

Semi-finals

Ireland flattened Peru in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with Bulgaria. The Bulgarians had won the last twelve Eastern European Championship and had a "rock solid defence". Ireland were another defensively strong team, but they also managed to score as many points as nearly every team in the World Cup.[3]

Finals

The 422nd Quidditch World Cup final was held on 22 August, 1994 in England, between Ireland and Bulgaria. Ludovic Bagman provided the match commentary. Ireland wore green robes with each player's name embroidered in silver on their back. They all flew Firebolt broomsticks and Leprechauns served as the team's mascots. Veela were Bulgaria's mascots and they played in robes of scarlet.

This penalty led to anarchy, with another penalty being awarded to Ireland and referee Hassan Mostafa being distracted by the Veela. Quigley sent a Bludger towards Krum which broke his nose. Lynch then spotted the Snitch, but was beaten in the race for it by Krum. Despite this, Ireland still ran out the victors. The final score was 170-160. The Irish team performed a lap of honour before being presented with the Quidditch World Cup in the stadium's Top Box (Lynch had to be supported by Moran and Connolly).[5]

Behind the Scenes

The mathematics relating to the World Cup are contradictory, as if 1994 cup was the 422nd, the tournament should have begun in 310 rather than 1473, as it is a proud boast of the International Confederation of Wizards' Quidditch Committee that the competition has been held only every four years, not more or less, since 1473.